Mortimer's Picnic

Mortimer is planning a picnic with his best friend Oggy. It’s all ready when a note arrives – poor Oggy has a cold and can’t come after all. Kind-hearted Mortimer decides he’ll look after his friend and take the picnic to him.

But a little rabbit hurrying through the woods with a basket of sausages and cake soon attracts the attention of some fierce, hungry creatures and before long Mortimer has a crocodile, a wolf and a troll snapping at his heels, only to be snatched up by something bigger and fiercer still…

Mortimer's Picnic is an uplifting story celebrating friendship, with evocative illustrations by Nick Ward, a top children’s illustrator.

​It’s a funny, very satisfying story with an excellent twist. Nick Ward’s warm, humourous illustrations are full of extra little details that make this even more fun.—lovereading4kids

The humorous text is complemented by lively illustrations, and a sense of mystery and mischievousness pervades this delightful picture book​.—Armadillo Magazine

With clever comic timing this story builds to a surprise ending rather like The Gruffalo. Mortimer is planning a picnic with his best friend Oggy. It’s all ready when a note arrives – poor Oggy has a cold and can’t come after all. Kind-hearted Mortimer decides he’ll look after his friend and take the picnic to him.

​But a little rabbit hurrying through the woods with a basket of cake and sausages soon attracts the attention of some fierce, hungry creatures and before long ​Mortimer has a crocodile, a wolf and a troll snapping at his heels, only to be snatched up by something bigger and fiercer still. It’s a funny, very satisfying story with an excellent twist. Nick Ward’s warm, humourous illustrations are full of extra little details that make this even more fun.

​Mortimer Rabbit is preparing to go on a picnic with his friend Oggy when he receives a note telling him that Oggy is unwell. So Mortimer decides to take the picnic to Oggy’s house, together with a book, a get-well card and some medicine, in order to cheer Oggy up.

However, on the way, he meets a crocodile who eats the sausages from Mortimer’s hamper in return for carrying him across the river. After Mortimer has crossed the river, the crocodile is still hungry, and follows him.

Next Mortimer meets a wolf who shows him the way out of the forest in return for Mortimer’s cake. But the wolf decides he is still hungry and so Mortimer now has a wolf and a crocodile following him.

Finally, Mortimer meets a mountain troll who won’t let him cross the bridge unless he is given the pumpkin pie. After Mortimer has crossed the bridge, mountain troll snatches the pumpkin pie and eats it.

Now, the mountain troll, wolf and crocodile decide that they want to eat Mortimer and start chasing him. Suddenly, a large green hand comes down from the sky and picks Mortimer up! It is a giant ogre! It is also Mortimer’s friend Oggy. Oggy takes Mortimer home and looks after him as he is now going down with a cold.

This is a delightful story that cleverly uses elements from various fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Billy Goats Gruff to create a gently subversive humorous tale which has the final reversal of the giant ogre being Mortimer’s rescuer and his friend.​The humorous text is complemented by lively illustrations, and a sense of mystery and mischievousness pervades this delightful picture book, leaving the reader/listener never quite knowing what will happen next.

Several of our three year old daughter's favourite U certificate films state on the box that they contain 'mild peril'. Picturebooks can also provide a safe place for children to tentatively experience what it means to be a little bit frightened, to help them to ask questions about things that may concern them, and to support discussion about real life emotion and feelings.

Ancient myths and classic fairy tales remain adored across generations because they deliver mild peril so well. There are many excellent recent additions to this genre, including one of our daughter's favourite and most requested picturebooks, Mortimer's Picnic.

Mortimer mouse is preparing a hamper to take on a picnic with his best friend Oggy, when a letter from Oggy arrives. Sadly, he is not well and won't be able to make it. Undeterred, Mortimer makes a homemade get well soon card and sets off to Oggy's house where he plans to nurse him back to good health.

As well as his basket of food Mortimer carries an anthology of adventure stories, which before the story proper has begun, Mortimer is seen reading intently on a page inside the front cover. This is certainly a clue to how the story is set to develop from here, as author/illustrator Nick Ward cleverly weaves together a host of classic fairy tales to create this innovative iteration.

Just as Mortimer sets off on his journey, ominous rain clouds form overhead. This is just the start - to reach his friend, Mortimer has to face many perils along the way, including a rushing river and a (really quite) scary forest, as well as using the contents of his hamper to save himself by placating a series of baddies that would otherwise gobble him up.There are lots of enjoyable details, such as the touch of pantomime when a gnarling crocodile hot on Mortimer's heels breaks through the 'fourth wall' and turns to the reader, finger to its mouth to tell us to "shhhh", as it creeps up behind our furry protagonist.

The book gives a clear nod, we think, to classic tales of mild peril including Little Red Riding Hood, Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Gruffalo. Mortimer's Picnic certainly brings something new to the genre, not least through Nick Ward's distinctive Brothers' Grimm meets Punch-and-Judy style illustration (we were already fans of his work from reading his illustrated chapter-book, Superbot, reviewed earlier).

Just when all seems lost, as Mortimer's foes close in, a 'deus ex machina' intervenes to ensure an unexpectedly sweet and pleasantly surprising ending (not to be revealed here), which simultaneously reassures and delights.